Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-05

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

It is important for children, young adults, working people and the retired to have at least one hobby.

What's your opinion about this?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 6.5)

It is often argued that at least one hobby is a fundamental part of everyone's life, including kids, young people, working professionals, and retirees. I strongly believe that hobbies are important because they allow people to relax and take a break from daily responsibilities. I will articulate this phenomenon in the upcoming paragraph.

To begin with, having a hobby can reduce stress and maintain a healthy lifestyle. To elaborate, working professionals have busy, demanding schedules, so having time for what they enjoy can help them relax and rejuvenate. For example, if someone enjoys cooking, reading, or photography may feel refreshed after spending an hour on their hobby. Furthermore, elderly people can avoid boredom and stay active by spending some time on painting, volunteering, and group discussions.

Moreover, hobbies can help people to improve their personal development. To clarify, learning new hobbies, such as sports, cooking and play musical instruments can develop children's creativity and teamwork, while young generation can enhance their communication and practical skills. Apart from this, older adults can also benefit from social gatherings, which can prevent them from isolation.

In conclusion, I believe that hobbies are beneficial to all ages, including children, young adults, working people and older adults, and affect them in different ways. Although it should not become an additional source of pressure, everyone should have some time for an activity that they genuinely enjoy, as this can contribute to both happiness and personal growth.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, covering the importance of hobbies for different age groups. However, the essay is under the 250-word minimum, which negatively impacts the development of ideas. While the position is clear and supported by relevant examples, the brevity prevents a more thorough exploration of the topic. For instance, the discussion on 'working professionals' and 'children' is somewhat superficial. To reach a higher band, you should expand on your arguments with more detailed explanations or additional examples to ensure the response meets the length requirement and demonstrates a more comprehensive development of ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Furthermore', and 'Moreover' to signal transitions between ideas. However, the flow is occasionally mechanical. The paragraphing is appropriate, and there is a clear progression of ideas throughout the text. To improve, try to vary your linking words and ensure that the relationship between sentences is more fluid, rather than relying on standard transition markers at the start of every paragraph.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to convey your meaning clearly. You use some topic-specific vocabulary like 'rejuvenate', 'demanding schedules', and 'personal development'. However, there are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'play musical instruments' (should be 'playing') and 'young generation' (should be 'the younger generation'). The range is sufficient but lacks the sophistication or precision required for a higher band score. Expanding your repertoire of collocations and idiomatic expressions would help elevate your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some grammatical errors, such as 'if someone enjoys cooking... may feel refreshed' (missing subject or incorrect clause structure) and 'play musical instruments' (parallelism error). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. To improve, focus on ensuring subject-verb agreement and correct verb forms in complex sentences. Increasing the variety of your sentence structures while maintaining accuracy will help you achieve a higher band score.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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